James Reynolds is a legend in the business, best known for his work as Abe Carver on Days of Our Lives. During his episode of the Soapy podcast, he took a moment to celebrate the success of Beyond the Gates. As an alum of the short-lived but well-received Generations, Reynolds has appreciated seeing viewers exposed to what the Black upper middle class is like on TV once more. He went on to talk about the attention the new soap has brought back to daytime dramas as well.
Key Takeaways
- James Reynolds shares what he finds great about BTG
- His stance on the importance of media representation
READ: Beyond The Gates Partners with Know Your Lemons for Breast Cancer PSA
James Reynolds Gives His Opinion on Beyond the Gates
Reynolds has been a soap star since 1981, but he’s been a student of history for far longer. While speaking to Soapy podcast hosts Greg Rikaart (DAYS) and Rebecca Budig (B&B), the actor was candid about the lack of sufficient representation for people of color on television.
He’s seen the progress the industry has made and has been a part of it himself, starring in the groundbreaking soap Generations as Henry Marshall, the “Ice Cream King of Chicago.” But there’s still more that can be done, especially as hard-won gains are under threat at this current moment in America.
However, Reynolds had nothing but glowing words for BTG, the first soap opera to center on a predominantly Black cast since Generations went off air in 1991. When Budig asked him about CBS’s new daytime drama, he shared:
I feel great about it. I think it’s done several things. For one thing, it’s nice to have that exposure again for a Black upper middle class family, to show what the Black middle class is like. Too often we don’t see the Black middle class. Those films and TV shows that do, tend to go back and forth from one experience to the other.
As you see from Beyond the Gates, as you see from so many things, your Blackness is important to your existence. No matter what. If you’re a billionaire—well, some billionaires. Wherever you fall on that economic scale, that is the essence of your existence in this country. I think Beyond the Gates shows that in a most entertaining way. A lovely way.
As Reynolds noted, the series’s success has also brought renewed attention to the soap genre and to daytime television in general. He tipped his hat to the show’s team for being very good at keeping it alive and in the conversation through publicity. Recent examples are Sunny Anderson of The Drew Barrymore Show visiting the set and the CBS special Inside Fairmont Crest, which aired on Martin Luther King Day.
Why Media Representation Matters
In depicting the full, lived experience of its characters, BTG has provided both a mirror and a window to its audience. A mirror for viewers who identify with the triumphs and challenges that are navigated in the soap’s storylines. And a window for viewers who live completely disparate lives, yet have the opportunity to learn about people whose world is unlike their own.
But the soap can’t be the sole marker of what progress looks like, and neither can DAYS, which Reynolds acknowledged had become more inclusive over the past several years, particularly as Rikaart stated later in the episode, since their move to Peacock.
We absolutely need the representation of everyone. People of color have to continue to be able to put their hands in the dirt, and people hang on. Media representation is by far the best road to that because that’s what everybody sees. I’m pleased that media companies seem to be holding on in many, many ways. I hope that continues.
Having people of color on-screen, whether in commercials or front and center in television shows and films, breaks down the belief that only certain lived experiences are worth depicting or writing about. It also helps prevent erasure from history and shows the reality of how diverse society and the world are. That’s why Reynolds is such an advocate for media that doesn’t whitewash history.
Watch the full Soapy podcast episode below:
